Tuesday, November 25
Jersey City, N.J.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
4-0, 0-0
70
at
58
Saint Peter's
0-2, 0-0
1
2
F
LEHIGHW
32
38
70
SPU
26
32
58
Lehigh secures first 4-0 start in 30 years following 70-58 victory at Saint Peter’s
11/25/2014 9:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball
JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The Lehigh women's basketball team used a 14-2 second-half run to break a 56-56 tie and pull away from Saint Peter's Tuesday night as the Mountain Hawks captured a 70-58 win at the Yanitelli Center. Lehigh remains undefeated with the win and moves to 4-0 for the first time since the 1984-85 season when the Mountain Hawks began the season 10-0 under coach Muffet McGraw, the current head coach at traditional power Notre Dame. Saint Peter's falls to 0-2 with the loss.
"This has always been a gym that's been very difficult for us to play in," explained head coach Sue Troyan. "Saint Peter's played really tough, but I was pleased with the way our kids battled today. It was a good experience for them to be in a close game and have to win it down the stretch."
Lehigh moves to 3-0 on the road for the second-straight season and just the second time since the 1984-85 season. The Mountain Hawks move to 5-0 all-time against the Peacocks.
Sophomore Lexi Martins tallied her fourth double-double in as many games as the forward tallied a career-high 22 points to go along with ten rebounds. Martins' performance was helped by a 6-for-9 showing from the free throw line and 8-for-11 mark from the field. Freshman Quinci Mann followed with 14 points and a career-high five rebounds. Junior Kerry Kinek also recorded a double-double with 13 points and ten rebounds, marking the second-straight game that both Kinek and Martins notched double-doubles. Senior Katie O'Reilly chipped in eight points, while senior Sarah Williams tallied a team-best four assists.
The Mountain Hawks finished the game shooting 41.4 percent (24-for-58) from the field, highlighted by a 46.4 percent (13-for-28) second-half clip. Lehigh shot 41.7 percent (5-for-12) from three-point range and 63.0 percent (17-for-27) from the free throw line. The Mountain Hawk defense held Saint Peter's to a 36.8 percentage (21-for-57) from the field and 4-for-15 showing from downtown. Lehigh held a 44-36 rebound advantage and forced 15 Saint Peter's turnovers compared to its own 11.
O'Reilly and Mann sunk back-to-back three-pointers within the first 50 seconds of the contest to quickly put Lehigh up 6-0 and force an early Saint Peter's timeout. A Mann layup followed to give Lehigh an 8-0 advantage before Hala Mostafa scored the first Saint Peter's basket with 18:25 on the clock.
A Martins layup with 16:02 left in the half gave the Mountain Hawks a 12-4 advantage before the Peacocks held Lehigh scoreless for the next four minutes and pulled within four at 12-8. A three-pointer from sophomore Kayla Burton put Lehigh back up by seven before a Kinek jumper made the lead nine at 17-8 with 10:21 left in the opening half.
A layup from sophomore Kiernan McCloskey gave Lehigh its largest lead yet as the Mountain Hawks controlled a ten-point advantage at 24-14. The Peacocks scored six unanswered points over the next minute and a half to pull back within four, but back-to-back baskets from Martins quickly pushed the Mountain Hawks ahead 28-20. Lehigh shot 0-for-8 from the field over the final 4:51 of the half, but was able to convert four free throws as Lehigh took a 32-26 lead into halftime.
A Sharlow layup started the second-half scoring, but the Peacocks were able to string together a 10-2 run from there to tie the game at 36 with 17:01 to play. Sharlow converted a free throw to put Lehigh back on top by one, but the Peacocks responded with an 8-1 run that took over three minutes off the clock as Saint Peter's jumped ahead 44-38 to force a Lehigh timeout.
Junior Amina Affini tossed in a layup at the 13:46 mark to stop the Peacock streak. Burton followed with a layup before Affini pulled down a big offensive rebound that led to a Kinek layup as the Mountain Hawks tied the game at 44 with 12:08 left on the clock. Martins tallied the next four points for Lehigh as the game was tied once again at 48.
The lead changed hands three times over the next three minutes before Lehigh broke a 52-52 tie with a 4-1 run thanks to a Mann jumper and pair of Martins free throws to put the Mountain Hawks up 56-53. A Peacock three-pointer quickly followed to tie the score once again, but Lehigh responded with an 8-0 run that spanned over three minutes as the Mountain Hawks took a 64-56 lead with 3:13 left on the clock.
Following a pair of Peacock free throws, Lehigh was able to score the final six points of the contest, four of which came from Martins, as the Mountain Hawks pulled away for the 70-58 victory.
The Mountain Hawks continue their road swing Sunday at Sacred Heart. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. and free video will be available via NEC Front Row.
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Team Stats
LEHIGHW
SPU
FG%
.414
.375
3FG%
.417
.286
FT%
.654
.750
RB
42
36
TO
11
16
STL
7
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
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